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Mark Cuban says he won't be bullied by SEC

DALLAS — Mark Cuban says he learned he was being sued for insider trading when he turned on CNBC one day "and I was the headline."

The billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner told jurors in federal court Monday that the news made him "sick to my stomach."

Cuban testified that he could have settled the case — he's not likely to face more than $2 million to $3 million in fines and penalties if he loses — but he hired lawyers and fought back because "I did nothing wrong and I refuse to be bullied."

Monday marked Cuban's second day on the witness stand. The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Cuban, claiming that he broke a confidentiality agreement when he unloaded his shares in a Canadian Internet company in 2004. The government says he avoided $750,000 in losses by selling his shares on insider information about a pending stock offering before it was announced publicly.